Arsene Wenger today admitted he wants to stay at Arsenal forever and revealed it is a case of when, and not if, he will sign a new contract.

Wenger’s deal expires at the end of this season but owner Stan Kroenke has confirmed he sees the Frenchman as key to his long-term vision.

The 63-year-old, who celebrates his 17th anniversary in charge at Swansea tomorrow, has led his team to the top of the league and is committed to signing an extension.

After being asked if it is now just a case of when he agrees terms, he said: “Yes. I said I want to focus on quality of our season and I don’t believe anyone can question my commitment to the club. I want to feel that I do well and then the question of me will be secondary after that.

“If I have one quality it is that I don’t need a lot of talks to extend the contract I have. I don’t know when we find the time [for talks] but that’s not the most important problem at the moment.

“Honestly, I would like to be here forever because that would mean I would be immortal! I’m not naive enough to believe that but, as long as I’m here, I just want to give my best because I love this club.

“I turned many other offers down because I rate what I have here and I always thought this club was special on that front.

“I am very honoured to have the support of Stan Kroenke and that he thinks I can help the club. It’s a huge confidence vote and very positive for me. I’m still here today because I got consistent support from inside the club.”

Arsenal take on Swansea having won seven straight League games away from home and with an opportunity to extend their lead at the top.

They are above Tottenham, who take on title rivals Chelsea tomorrow, on goal difference, while they are two and five points clear of Manchester City and Manchester United respectively.

He added: “If you have a choice, this is where you want to be. It’s a very early stage and it’s a compact group of teams but we are there and want to stay there. I didn’t expect us [to recover from Aston Villa defeat on opening day] as quickly as that. You have seen everybody at some stage has had a bad result and that allowed us to bounce back.

“The group has shown a mentally positive response. I thought that some teams could have the perfect start.”

The Arsenal manager expects Theo Walcott to be ruled out for five weeks after having an operation on his abdomen, meaning the forward will miss England’s World Cup qualifiers against Montenegro and Poland at Wembley next month.